Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-07-10

saw the professional hand to Mr.. Smith
folded paper that bore strong resem-
blance TO United States bond. Mr.
Smith put the bond IN his pocket, and
then taking out a note book, opened it ct
certain page and ran his dnger down g
column of figures. TIE detective was by
this time returning with the sauce, and
he perceived that the figures were moth
ing less than list Of bonds and other Sc
CuTities In moment Mr.. Smith said,
81 don't lind it here"
"It's rigat sll the same, replied the
other. "You made mistake ia copying"
81 guess not,n said Mr.. Smlth; II
wGs extra careful"
"Wel, III tel you whavu settle it, :"
answered his companion, pulling what
must have been handful OF letters and
small papers Ont OF lis pocket, "and
that's the printed MISUNDERSTANDING If
I've got copy Of It here. On, here it
is, sure enough" he exclaimed the next
moment.
"You are right, after all" remarked
Mr.. Smith, after examining Cuo rarer,
though it's rather queer that l should
have made the mistake on just that nun
Der. Well, then, III give you face value
for it,
mot if l know it you won'tn re-
turned the other. OTIS G thousand or
n0thing!n
"a thousand? nonsense? Where else
could you get the five hundred except
fro;a me-"
Gust IS you like only give ne back
my stuff. l didn't come here TO diCker;
it amt in my line. Hand it back" And
then summOning the waiter, ne told
him TO 90 and get g half dozen Of the
best cigars.
evil you take seven hundred and
tifty?" asked Mr.. Smith.
I've said my last word. a thousand
or 30 deal"
otis an out-and-out sWindle, but here
you are" Mr. Smith replied; and as the
detective once more emerged from his
box, with his hst on, and paused for
moment to scratch a matcl on the sole OF
his boot and light cigar, he saw Mr..
Smith hand over TO his companion roll
of bills Of which the top one was of the
denomination of 500.
Soon after, the two left the saloon,
parted at the street corner, and Mr..
Smith returned 10 mis- hotel.
What did it mean, and what was to be
done about it? For al that tue detective
knew, the transaction he had witnessed
was an entirely Legitimate one. The pro-
iessionaI gentleman had apparently sold
to Mr.. Smith a United States $40 bond
of $500 1t was true thai $1,000 had been
paid for it, but that did not make the sale
illegal. There was no law against pay
ing 100 times the face value ii the pur-
chaser, with his eyes open chose to do so.
The question vas, had the bond in
question been honestly come by? II not,
then there bsd been purchase ana sale
Of stolen goods, and the parties could be
arrested. Now, the probability OF the
bond having been stolen was strong. In
the first place, It was in the possession OF
known crook, and crooks are not N the
habit Of investing in government securl-
ties IL the usual way. Secondly, this
particular crook wss regarded as pos
sible accomplish in the MsEnsttan rob
berry. Thirdly, tWenty-siX go bonds OF
$500 each were among the securities
stolen from the Manhattan Bank.
FOurthly, the printed paper or circular
which Nj. Smiths friend had shown him
must have been the announcement dis
seminated by the bgnk on the day after
the robbery. Filthy, why should Nr.
Smith have given double its value for the
bond had ne wanted il for its normal
purpose? and what other reason could he
have than 8 desire TO protect himself
against some mischief which the bond
might be used 20 infIict upon him! These
were COgent arguments, and yet the case
for the other side WAS not TO be ignored.
CHAPTER *.
The csse for the other side stood some
what as follows: To begin with, the de-
tective had not actually seen the bond,
and perhaps there was no bond there. In
the next place, supposing there was bond,
it may not have been stolen. Again, as
regarded the paper that resemoled the
bank circular, it may have been some
thing else; and, finally, the fact that Mr..
Smith hsd paid thousand dollars in
stead of five hundred may have been
merely in settlement of some former
transaction of which the detective knew
nothing.
Moreover, there were in this instance
valid objections against making an arrest
on the chance that an investigation OF
Mr. Smiths pockets would Justify IL. If
the pond proved to be one of the stolen
ones then, indeed, it would be sll right;
but, If not, then the authorities would be
much worse of than if they hsd done no
thing. For they were proceeding against
Mr.. Smith upon the assumption that he
was guilty, and if this arrest failed to
prove him so he would thenCeforth enjoy
the immense advantage of having been
put on his guard, and would devote al
his means and ingenuity to psrrying
further attack. In other words, to ares.
him now would practically be to hazard
everything on single cast of the die,
snd with the odds rather against success.
By waiting, on the other hand, It was not
likely that anything would be lost and
everything might be gained. And upon
this statement OF the matter the Getec